May 4, my first day in Poland

Everything went very well. No delays.

I have to say I was surprised at the airplane. It looked a bit worn. The entertainment system was the old style, a monitor comes down every few rows..no choice of movies. After we left Toronto the movies started at midnight. About ten Tom and Jerry cartoons. I didn't bother to use the ear phones.

It turns out LOT had purchased two new Boeing Dreamliners, that's the new planes that had all the problems with batteries catching fire. So, the new planes were grounded, and LOT had to rent a couple of old planes. This was one. Four washrooms for 234 passengers in the "coach", or "economy", or the "sardine section". My seat was next to one of the bathrooms; not a good location. The good news was that that washroom was out of order. The bad news was the other bathrooms got a bit dingy after a while. 

The food was good though..the salad side dish consisted of slices of salami, cheese, a slice of tomato, and bread. My kind of salad.

We landed on time, at 12:50, and within an hour I was on a train to Krakow. Within that hour I went through customs, withdrew money from an ATM, took a bus from the airport to  central Warsaw (1,50 dollars), and bought a train ticket. Talk about efficiency. No way that could happen in Toronto!

I have also been lucky with the weather; it has rained heavenly the last two days, but today was dry.

My location is great. 20 minutes to the train station, 15 minutes to the town square. Nothing is perfect though; I am on the fourth floor, 85 steps. Shades of Prague, on my first visit.

I love European cities, everybody is out, walking, enjoying a meal, or a drink. Just a great place to people watch.

By the way, for those of you keeping score

Nuns in full habit      4

Muslims in a hijab     O

Till tomorrow

Ralf